Every year over a million people worldwide die from mosquito-born diseases such as Malaria, Dengue, Encephalitis, and West Nile Virus. Artificial light sources exacerbate the spread of disease by attracting mosquitoes to areas of human activity. Chemical insecticides used in these areas have further cumulative detrimental health effects and damaging environmental repercussions. Merely repelling, rather than exterminating mosquitoes and other infectious biting insects, does not prevent local migration to adjacent areas.
Known methods for repelling or destroying mosquitoes and other biting insects are unreliable and produce unpleasant effects. Netting and screens inhibit ventilation and concentrate insects near light sources. Ultraviolet electrocution devices produce disturbing sounds and smells while upsetting the eco-system by killing more beneficial insects than mosquitoes. Traps are largely ineffective because only a small percentage of biting insects are successfully maneuvered into such devices. Chemical insecticides are only marginally effective, poison the environment and often result in progressively worsening human health.
Traps and ultraviolet zappers are not only ineffective but often do more harm than good, because they attract mosquitoes without killing them. Ultraviolet light aids mosquitoes in finding water to lay their eggs by polarizing light reflected off the surface of water. Each night, a typical ultra violet zapper kills approximately 3,000 beneficial insects such as moths and butterflies, but only a few mosquitoes. Less than one fourth of one percent of insects killed by traps and zappers are biting insects, and nearly 50% have been found to be beneficial non-biting aquatic insects such as caddis flies and midges that feed fish, frogs, birds and bats. Another 14 percent have been found to be insects that actually attack pests, including wasps, ground beetles and ladybugs.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a pleasant and effective method of exterminating mosquitoes and other biting insects using only natural organic compounds having no adverse effects on human health or the environment.